James Hill

Libre Revolutions has been named one of the Smarta 100 - click here for the original article.

It isn’t just in London that taxi drivers have to know each street off by heart: in Manchester, the rules are equally as stringent, forcing would-be cabbies to know every road in the city before they can set foot in a taxi. Manchester’s Taxi Academy has created a syllabus to teach prospective cab drivers the routes around the city in an easy-to-learn way, and even uses former Manchester City Council examiners to show them how it’s done. Since it opens its doors, founder Kashef Ahmad estimates the college has boosted pass rates from 10-20% to more than 70%. In fact, the college has been so successful, it’s spawned its own cab service: Academy Cars opened its doors in 2008.

• Innovative model serves a previously untouched market niche
• Logically thought-out syllabus has improved pass rates
• Diversified into a taxi service

http://www.thegapyearstudent.co.uk/

Hello all - please let me know if there’s anyone you think would be interested in this post, and forward them the details.

Regards James

Academy Taxis

Job Description:

This is a part time/flexible position creating dispatch software for a taxi base. The system is currently live and in use, you can see the public facing system at http://www.academy-taxis.com/watch.html .

Your role will be to support and improve the system, and grow the system in line with the needs of the business. You will be coding Embedded Visual C++, PHP, AJAX, Perl, HTML, working with Asterisk, Firefox, TomTom and Windows Mobile. You will be responsible for provisioning windows mobile systems for new drivers, responding to any technical support enquiries, and also dealing with the office IT.

Working at a small entrepreneurial business you will have flexibility and the opportunity to step into many different roles. You will be the head engineer on the system, and there is lots of scope to learn new skills.

We are an entrepreneurial company growing fast, and we want a candidate who is interested in growing with the role, with the possibility of eventually working at technical director level.

Essential Skills

C/C++ programming, HTML, PHP, Javascript

Highly Desirable Skills

Asterisk, Perl, Linux Server, Apache, Ajax, Cron

Aptitudes

We’re looking for a self starter, passionate, loves to learn new skills. Enjoys a startup/small business environment, can complete projects and take ownership of projects. Ambition and an entrepreneurial streak is encouraged, as we can create opportunities for the right individuals.

Experience

We require someone who is able to complete projects with minimal input, and who has the passion to build exciting things. We’d like to see evidence of this through projects that you have completed, either things you have built for your own purposes, open source projects, or exciting university projects.

Contact Us

Please call Kash on 0161 850 0253, or email your CV + Cover Letter to hr@academytaxis.com . Interviews will be held on Friday 22^nd May.

Still a work in progress, but check out my new website - the walleteer.

Academy Taxis

My latest project - Academy Taxis!

We’re making a new taxi base that will be better because:

• No lies - we’re committed to making sure what we know, you know.
• Track your taxi online - you can see it moving towards you on a map.
• Automatic ringbacks when your taxi arrives, and when it’s nearby.
• Speak to your driver direct.

How would you like your taxi base to be?  What can be improved?

Academy Cars in the Manchester Evening News

My friend John Braiden has recently set up in business as an acoustic consultant.  His website is available here: Braiden Acoustics

http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/10/07/14-tools-to-legally-spy-on-your-competition/